Dawn Metcalfe, Managing Director of PDSi and author of The HardTalk Handbook, found that while 90% of people face problems with their colleagues, 70% say they would avoid the awkward confrontation at all costs. With HardTalk, she’s helping people initiate the difficult conversations that will make a difference.

Aside from the style of writing, the approach to the reader’s mind and the telepathic communication established between the writer and the person who has been through the scenario discussed in the book, this book might actually change the life of people.

“Being nice doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t speak up,” Dawn Metcalfe. If women in our global workforce don’t get comfortable with having difficult conversations, then they can only look forward to being liked, instead of developing the grit that they need to be heard.

Last month the UAE announced a draft law which would make it illegal to pay a man more than a woman for the same job – with one of the narrowest pay gaps already in the world, it’s great news. But don’t just sit back, relax and take fair pay for granted. Women are as good as negotiating at men when they actually do it – but according to many studies, they’re less inclined to take the leap and try. Dawn Metcalfe recently wrote a tips piece for Ella to help you negotiate the salary you want, even if it doesn’t come naturally. Give it a try – the principles are the same whether you’re male or female.

Diversity is great. Today, everybody knows it. Study after study backs it up. Diverse workforces should be at the forefront of innovation, creativity, productivity and more. But diversity only takes us so far. If inclusion isn’t front and centre of the conversation, organisations are missing out on the full potential of their workforce.

With a line-up of female leaders from the MENA business arena to share their expertise, the 2018 edition of Entrepreneur Middle East’s Achieving Women Forum brought together over 300 attendees to discuss and debate some of the key challenges and opportunities the region presents for female professional and entrepreneurs.

Dawn Metcalfe is an executive coach, facilitator, trainer, leadership advisor, and author of two books, Managing the Matrix and The HardTalk™ Handbook and talks to Equity to share insight into what she does, why she does it and where she came from.

Have you ever dreaded a difficult conversation that you weren’t sure how to handle? Did you then make a mess of the conversation, or decide it wasn’t worth having? That’s what Dawn Metcalfe’s book HardTalk is all about.

Making a will is often a sensitive topic that people avoid. Dawn Metcalfe, Dubai-based trainer and coach working with DIFC Wills Service Centre tells you how to move forward with his list of the top five reasons why people avoid making such big decisions — such as writing a will. Here’s how to stop procrastinating, be confident in the conversation and move forward.

Dubai-based trainer, speaker and coach Dawn Metcalfe today launches her second book, The HardTalk™ Handbook. While the theme is universal, the methodology within the book and accompanying programme was inspired by Dawn’s experiences of living and working in the UAE, an economy rich in diversity.

Dubai-based trainer, speaker and coach Dawn Metcalfe today launches her second book, The HardTalk™ Handbook, pegged as the definitive guide to having the difficult conversations that make a difference.

Most people do not have difficult conversations because they do not enjoy them. Instead, they silence themselves until they cannot contain their feelings, at which point they speak up ineffectively. Executive coach and author of The HardTalk Handbook, Dawn Metcalfe, tells us how to have difficult conversations in an easier and more effective manner.

Rejection sucks. No matter how humble we are, it still hurts to be told we’re not right in some way. It can be saying goodbye to someone you love, not getting the dream job, or being told your fabulous idea won’t work; it doesn’t matter, rejection sucks.